


<"De_coded"/>

by Being_Delirious



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Brothers, Alternate Universe - Dream Team SMP Setting (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys In Love, Brotherly Love, Character Death, Emotional Hurt, F/F, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gen, Girls Kissing, Heavy Angst, M/M, Men Crying, Minor Character Death, Near Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Threats of Violence, Thriller, Unrequited Love, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29800920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Being_Delirious/pseuds/Being_Delirious
Summary: One mistake led to another; causing an apocalyptic world.It's a world made up of codes! One alter, however, caused corruption to its inhabitants. Now on lockdown, trapped inside with monsters they've accidentally made,  how could our so-called "leaders" navigate their way for everyone's survival.How many deaths will it take for someone to learn? Sacrifices to make for someone else's safety. With friends split in between coding, fighting and dictating, how would one compensate?If only time travelling was a thing...Heartbreaks, desperation, and betrayal ensues, will they survive?
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Darryl Noveschosch, Alexis | Quackity & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Antfrost & Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Antfrost/VelvetIsCake (Video Blogging RPF), Cara | CaptainPuffy & Darryl Noveschosch, Cara | CaptainPuffy/Niki | Nihachu, Clay | Dream & Darryl Noveschosch, Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Dave | Technoblade & Darryl Noveschosch, Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Luke | Punz & Sam | Awesamdude, Ponk | DropsByPonk & Sam | Awesamdude, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's only just the beginning...
> 
> An introduction: THE SPREAD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm becoming a full-time Ao3 user! This will be a story I would love to dedicate myself and to those who love a good fighter! Hope you guys enjoy it! <3

It was a universe, a colourful, wonderful, delightful universe with each grain, dust and speck are encoded. Each country having access to the power of creating such unique servers, most people reside, live and be raised in. In each constructed server, a console is kept within. Much like the world and its core, the Console is a place where everything seen on the surface is made up.

The Console is the place where assigned web-developers can maintain or edit its placement. Whoever has access to it can manipulate whatever happens to either the server or the ones who reside in it. Of course, that is if you know how to code. Much like a cog in a machine, a server is not to be created without those tiny equations of numbers and letters. They build everything from air to water; the branches of a tree to grow its leaves.

Most servers have a familiar code with a slight alteration. Great examples of these are entertainment/event servers: Hypixel, Invadedlands and MunchyMc. They were all constructed with the same base but with different placement of ones and zeroes to avoid trolls who hacks and, in the worst case possible, shut a server down with no way of reversing it.

One server, nevertheless, seemed to stand out from the rest. Built not by your usual professional devs, but by a group of friends who decided to have a world reserved for them and friends of friends only. The one who brought up the idea, Dream, was the first to lead to its creation. Gathering fellow coders he knows are qualified to build a reliable world and to also gain some sort of profit by showcasing its beauty.

His friends, of course, agreed and soon Dream SMP was born.

It started off tame with only the three having fun and building a house in the middle of a lake. Slowly but surely, they invited more people. Bad, Sam, Ponk. Ant Frost, Callahan... and then more Minecraftians of all kinds. The hybrids, humans, supernatural entities—the server needed to be bigger, generate faster with all these players generating chunks of the world. It meant more developers to help control and maintain stability. Ones that work in the console 24/7 and keep an eye out for anything out of the code.

Those who're hired are Callahan as head-admin, Alyssa as Senior Developer and Yin as system-administrator, followed by the helpers who are Fumaz, Cyber and the rest.

It seemed like everyone had transferred yet of course that's not true. Munchy in the meantime is guarded by Urso, Boomer, Red and Omarmu. It's a team effort whilst the owner and co-owner are out.  
  


Voices echoed out loud, ringing and reaching even the smallest spaces of the cave the trio had accidentally stumbled in search of a fun adventure. The whole place was sparse and well-formed. Tall ceilings with dangerous pointed tips that looked like they could easily penetrate through flesh. There was a clear, glistening pond by the left where if they walked over, could hear the distant sound of a waterfall.

Tommyinnit surveyed the area with awe and a bit of disappointment. He was hoping that they would encounter a mob spawner or a wrecked mineshaft of some sort. Sure, the whole place was majestic, crystal clear water and seemingly clean rock formations, hell they could hold picnic down there and not have to worry about placing a torch. But a little action wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?

Unlike the blond, however, Tubbo shared a similar spark of amazement along with Ranboo. Sure, it might be for different reasons, but the overwhelming astonishment was the same. Ranboo immediately thinks of using the area to house more storage and Tubbo wondering what kind of code or helpful plug-in could've caused the cave's majestic features.

"Awww, where are the monsters?" complained Tommy with a dramatic frown. Expecting for a mob to spawn in was completely normal. After all, despite the slight glow of water, it was still dark.

The brunette - Tubbo - rolled his eyes. Crouching near the slim river with interest as he dipped his fingers in, immediately pulling them back when he found out its freezing temperature. "Could you hold off with the fighting and enjoy the view instead?" He stood up with a huff, adjusting the strap of his bag.

"We've been mining for hours and we haven't encountered a single spawner, Tubbo!" the blond argued.

"Correction! We've been mining for approximately forty-two minutes and twenty seconds." Tubbo countered with a point at his pocket watch.

Ranboo, the tallest of the three, glanced around. It seemed like there were no mobs planning to spawn at all. Weird. The ceiling was high enough to house a herd of enderman or even those annoying silverfishes he calls leeches. He took a step forward, a hand carefully sliding across a grain-free rock as half of his vision helped him see in the dark.

With the use of this advantage, something glinting from behind a boulder caught the part-enderman's attention.

"Hold on, I think I see something," he announced.

The boys who were previously bickering in the background stopped, also curious as to what this 'something' is that their friend has found. They both watched in anticipation as Ranboo blended in with the shadow, making it hard for them to keep their eyes on the tallest.

Tommy and Tubbo stared at each other then back to their friend and back to each other again. Expressing an unspoken agreement, both humans decided to walk after the part-enderman. Tommy took a torch out of his hotbar, tilting it towards Tubbo who easily lit it with his flint and steel before they went on ahead and followed.

No matter how pretty the cave may have been in their first look, the darkness reminded them of its own eeriness. The hollowed sound of deafening silence; the lack of light and its natural lively growth. This part of the cavern made every beauty creepy.

Casting out the umbrae, the pair soon found Ranboo squatting behind an odd formation of rocks, seemingly inspecting something thoroughly. They glanced back at each other, confused eyes and worried gazes shared between before stepping forward to their friend.

"Ranboo?" Tubbo called out with a slight quiver in his voice. "Are you alright, bud?"

Ranboo, not looking back, ushered both boys to come near. Clearly more invested in whatever he was looking at. "Yes. Yeah, I am. It's just..." he trailed off, finally setting his gaze towards his friends. His green and red eyes squinted at the torch Tommy held before answering. "I think you'll like this, Tubbo. Come take a look and leave the torch right there, I don't think it will have an effect but just to be sure."

Hesitant at first, Tommy gave Tubbo a nod and placed the torch down before following along himself. When he reached Ranboo, he could hear the audible gasp coming from Tubbo beside him. The blond squinted his eyes with furrowed brows, unsure of what he was supposed to be staring at.

It was glaring in a familiar shade of green, the letters or symbols coming off akin to runes he had been told before. Whatever it was, Tubbo seemed to be genuinely amazed as he had already kneeled besides Ranboo, hands carefully caressing the enchanting symbols.

"What are those?" he was curious as to what it actually was.

Tubbo answered, excitement visible in his voice. "They are codes, Tommy!"

Surprised and slightly suspicious, Tommy went on. "Codes? Why are they visible like this? I thought they were supposed to be, I don't know, inside the walls or something."

"What do you mean? You're constantly surrounded with codes, Tommy." As if to prove his point, Tubbo went on and glided his hand on top of the encrypted symbols, slowly sliding it towards the edge where soon his hand hovered on the cave's wall to reveal more codes covering the surface like some sort of thin, transparent gloves. "See? They're everywhere. Just hidden like an invincible man!"

"Woah," and with this, Tommy knelt to take a closer look. "May I touch them?" his hand was already outstretched, wanting to feel the runes-like codes. Mesmerized by the way it glowed.

In a swift shift, Tubbo was quick to stop the blond from touching the codes, grabbing his wrist and violently shaking his head with a more serious note. "You're not allowed to touch them if you don't know how to navigate them, Tommy! You might break it or something!"

The said-boy scrunched his face as he took umbrage at the brunette's remarks.

"Then why can you hold it then? Hmmmm?"

"Because I'm smart and I know what a code is when I see one."

"Wha— who are you calling dumb, bitch?"

Not responding, Tubbo went ahead and continued to survey the visible codes under his palm, furrowing his eyebrows when he took note of its pattern. "It's a different breed... I've never seen a version like this before," he muttered underneath his breath, fingers slightly skimming through the manuscript with a feather touch.

Annoyed with getting ignored, Tommy made a face like the child he was. "What, I was right, wasn't I? You just act like you know codes but you actually don't. If there's a dumb bitch anywhere, it's you." Of course, this was extremely false. Tommy had to listen to his friend's tangent before about codes and how to make them and whatnot. He was only taunting.

What he didn't expect, however, was to hit a nerve. With stern eyes and a stoic face, Tubbo faced him with an unamused tone. "Want to bet on it? Watch me decipher this code and build it back and again." and to further prove how serious he was, he grabbed ahold of one of the placements with his hand, ready to pick it apart like lego blocks for toddlers - it made the code glare dark green and blink in a warning matter.

On the sidelines, Ranboo's ears perked up when he caught the sound of something out of place. A noise that belongs to neither him nor the other two, as if there was something - or rather, someone else watching them from afar. He stood up, scanning the place around from which they came from.

"Uh, did you guys hear that?" he asked to receive no response. Frowning at the lack of bickering, he turned his head back to catch his brown-haired friend decoding and messing the structured codes apart.  
  
  


"Hannah and… who was the sonic guy again?"

Badboyhalo tilted his head to face his best friend, Skeppy, with raised brows. An amused smile playing on his lips as he answered the other man's question.

"You mean Connor?"

Their footsteps in sync and paces match, Skeppy snapped his fingers at the name, head perking up upon getting the right answer to his question slot. Shoulders bumping against the demon-like creature in a playful manner.

"Yeah, that guy! He and Hannah both left for the hub this morning, right?"

The hub, the only place in the entire world that could help Minecraftians travel from one server to another. Akin to an airport, honestly.

BadBoyHalo narrowed his eyes. Suspicion laced beneath his gaze when he gave the gem-human a distrustful look.

"What, you're not planning on leaving again, are you?"

Sure, he won't actually hold it against Skeppy if the man does decide to go on another trip. Hopping from one server to another, reaching places even outside the coded worlds and unto other countries where other servers are available. Bad swears that his best friend has a thing with server hopping, but then again, it does get a tad bit lonely without the gem-human around. Besides, he just arrived yesterday!

The look Bad gave him made Skeppy squeak out a nervous laugh. Shaking his head dismissively to reassure the other that he wasn't leaving any time soon.

"Bad, don't worry, okay? I'm not leaving for another week. I promise I'll stay with you for the rest of it, alright?"

Still giving him a suspecting stare, Bad hummed. "Mm'kayy, if you say so."

This made the diamond man raise a brow, bemused at his friend's obvious antics. "You don't believe me," Skeppy stated in an obvious tone with a slight tease.

"Wha— I do," Bad wavered defensively, "but you know, sometimes, you get a little antsy…"

Suddenly coming to a halt, Skeppy whipped around to give the demon a look of disbelief. Placing a hand on top of his chest for a more dramatic representation.

"Bad, we've talked about this!"

The said-being groaned. Rubbing at his white eyes with his gloved hands in a bit of a flustered motion. "I know but Quackity also has a point—" he tried to explain, tail swaying just behind him.

"Oh, so you believe in Quackity more than me now?" Skeppy knew the duck-hybrid was trouble the first time he saw the man badgering along with his best friend. It simply made the diamonds on his skin prickle. "Wow, okay. Guess we know who you trust more, huh?"

There wasn't any real reason for him to hate the hybrid. Quackity was a funny guy, he's cool as long as he keeps his distance.

"Geppyyy nooo!" Bad whined out loud, clutching on the other's clothes with the used of his gloved claws and slightly shaking him in a small attempt of no practical reason. "We know he's number two! He's a Discount-Skeppy!"

And it was back to this cycle again. He would pretend to be distraught and have Bad prove of how loyal he is to him as a best friend. No, it wasn't mandatory to roll back with these types of games. They could've gone to chopping woods and planting trees instead of bickering like an old married couple, but here they are - and well, it's another form of bonding so they wouldn't have it any other way.

It was in a while before Skeppy had noticed the sudden lack of whining. Wary gaze landing on the man with the dark cloak, more cautious with the absence of noise.

"Bad? You okay, bud?"

BBH risked a glance at his friend knowing very well that his ominous white eyes would give away his sudden discomfort.

"I… Skeppy, will you do me a favour?"

He held the gem-human by the shoulders, grip not tight to hurt but enough to make sure that the other would focus on him and his voice only.

"Yes, sure. Of course, anything for you, Bad. What is it?"

Not wanting to scare him anymore, Bad proceeded to lightly push Skeppy the other way, back from where they've come from and towards a direction he knew the others would most likely be at.

"Go meet up with everyone, okay? Preferably Dream, but anyone who's manageable, alright? I'll catch up to you guys later, I just have something to do real quick."

When he noticed the gem-human fusing brows, he knew he wouldn't be given another chance of persuading the man. In a swift motion, Bad dashed the other way, making sure to not give Skeppy the chance to argue. It didn't matter, not when the sounds of emergency alarms started blaring and the excruciating growl of metal shutters coming down from the sky and stretching towards where he knows are the corners of the server.

He kept running, hoping and praying to whoever that the alert message he had received from Yin was nothing else but a false alarm.

Deep down, he knows something terrible has happened. It ebbed a part of his core; the concern for his admin friends only grew more and more each blink at the notification he received from his tab, just below the public alert message where only fellow admins or chosen people get to see:

> **THE SERVER HAS ENSUED INTO AN EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN. PLEASE KEEP CALM AND WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. THANK YOU.**

_GUYS, THERE'S A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM. CALLAHAN TRIED FIXING IT BUT THE CODE SWALLOWED HIM. DON'T GO NEAR THE GLITCH. I REPEAT, DO NOT—_

Yin's voice message abruptly cut off and soon, Sapnap found his way to the crowd that had gathered by Eret's built castle at the first gate. The cacophony of confused voices reached his ears like claws scratching a chalkboard. As if the sudden change of hue on the sky wasn't enough to send him on edge.

Sapnap has not experienced a server lockdown before. Sure, there was the time when they were testing out the world's shutters to make sure it was closing just fine and intact. This, however, was not a test. It was real. A living horror for everyone who stays in a server could experience.

The young man pushed through the cluster of confused Minecraftians, trying to see if he could spot two familiar faces of his best friends in the area.

A hand darted from the mob and pulled Sapnap's wrist in order to catch the man's attention. Ready to snap at the suspect for interrupting his already frustrated thoughts, Sapnap whipped his head to the side to only feel guilty by the second his eyes landed on a familiar pair of purple and green hoodies - a mix of distinguishable colour, to be in fact that makes him wonder how he hadn't noticed it in the crowd earlier.

Karl looked like a pup who got separated from his pack. His albeit wavy brown hair pointing in any directions, a bite on his bottom lip from a nervous tick and wide - almost afraid - eyes. His grip on Sapnap did not loosen, squeezing lightly to get the man to face him.

"What's going on?"

A traitorous ache on his chest, a pang of creeping guilt and suffocating lungs. Despite not being held responsible, it didn't stop eating away at his soul when he could not find a proper answer to give the younger man.

So instead, he shifted the topic. "Where's Quackity?" Queried Sapnap as he looked away. Pretending to search for the duck-hybrid when in reality, he was searching for the others.

Unfortunately for him, Karl immediately caught on his tactics. "I arrived with Quackity, now answer me. What the honk is going on?"

By this, Sapnap frowned. The usual crack he finds cute suddenly turned ugly and hoarse. Not anymore finding it funny when the break of Karl's voice was a sign of nearing edge. A total hint of desperation to seek the truth, not wanting to be out of loop. Gentle as he could, he pried the brunette's hold off of his wrist and instead held it in between his palms like it was something precious to protect.

Karl's eyes stared deeply into his, in a million biomes out there where Sapnap can indulge and get lost at, it was in the eyes of a friend he so dearly cared for.

"Karl, I'm sorry. I'm as lost as you are right now but," Sapnap lowered his head, pressing his lips on the soft skin, giving it a chaste kiss reserved for a royalty. "I promise you, whatever it is that's happening right now, we'll make it through together."

It caused a jump within Karl that made his view shift and face burn. In that second, the stars might as well have been falling; Jupiter and Mars could've face-planted into each other; a black hole could've shredded the planet Earth in pieces and he would not give a damn thing. Cause why would he? Why would he care when everything felt so right at that moment to the point that even the alarming lockdown blaring off in the background sounded small as a coin dropped on a carpeted floor. When at that moment he felt so safe in Sapnap's hold.

"Sapnap, I—"

In the distance, the said male's eyes lit up, already backing up and letting go of Karl's hand - the boy never felt so cold in his life.

"Wait-!" The man faced Karl once more, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'll check on you later, gotta go!" and with this, he ran off. Unintentionally leaving Karl feeling more lost than before along with an empty, freezing hand.

Making a run for it, Sapnap dodges the rest of the people who stood and gossip amongst themselves. Giving a nod towards Punz and Ponk who momentarily stood as bodyguards for the known-owner of the currently-on-lockdown SMP. By the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of George, his known-developer friend, pushing Quackity away. Most likely told the agitated duck-hybrid off.

"Dream!" he called out towards the man with a smiley-mask, completely not expecting a tight hug in return when the said-man spotted him.

"Holy shit, I'm glad you made it." Replied Dream as soon as they departed. His chest heavy breathing, relaxing a bit upon finding out that his childhood friend was safe.

Sapnap opened his mouth, ready to ask what the hell was going on when another company joined their mini-reunion.

"Sapnap?" It was George, clearly relieved as well when he saw the younger male. They might have argued a lot like a couple of preschoolers; it still hasn't changed the fact that their friendship outweighs their hateful relationship. "I'm glad you're here."

"I'm happy to see both of your asses too but I really need to know what the hell is going on."

Dream faced him, shoulders poised and voice steady. "That's what we've been trying to find out for the past ten minutes. Did you get Yin's message? We've been trying to contact Bad for the last seven minutes."

Sapnap nodded. He raised a hand up to open his tab and show Yin's warning message below the alert.

"Have you seen Bad?" George butter in, eyes wide with a bit of a frantic state. "Or anyone else from our circle for that matter?"

It was odd for Sapnap to see his usually laid-back friend in this state making an unsettling panic creep in.

"No, I haven't seen Bad this morning. I only heard from Quackity that he was planning to spend the rest of the day with Skeppy since he arrived."

This information only made George let out a tired groan. "That's what Quackity said—!"

Not far, the three of them could hear the worried yells and layered questions insisting to be answered. In the mix, Wilbur Soot, Nihachu, Jack Manifold, Fundy and Eret huddled together. Multiple questions being passed unto another, asking where someone could possibly be or if the lockdown is a false alarm and most importantly, why on the SMP were they getting locked in?

Puffy and Foolish stood next to Karl and Quackity, both hybrids and humans exchanging possible reasons, grasping any reliable information they could get.

"What the fuck is going on?" and "Are you guys trying to keep something out?"

Were the two most prominent questions from the rest. Prompting the trio to further scout for possible fixes, already on edge with all the planted pressure amongst their shoulders. To make matters worse, Fundy seemed to have enough, moving on from everyone and straight-up demanding an explanation for being caged up like a wild bird. Also mentioning the lack of a certain blond child in the mob.

Thankfully, in both Dream and George's luck, not later than two minutes, Sam and Ant finally arrived with a specific - if not, the only - gem-human on the server.

When Skeppy did reveal himself, it left both a disappointing and a partially glad reaction for the group. "What the fuck, Dream? George? What's going on?" it was expected for the man to feel puzzled as they had been. The whole SMP was.

"Skeppy, where's Bad?" Dream was quick to ask the gem-human. The others: Punz, Sapnap, George, Sam, and Ant gathered around him, wanting to know first-hand where their demon-like friend went off to and why he wasn't with Skeppy.

The diamond man looked around. Suddenly put on-the-spot, he's wary of having all eyes on him. Barrelling through the crowd came Quackity in his usual clothing style. The blue beanie and dark blue jacket under a grey shirt. A horrid scar on his left side running from the top of his eyebrow, blinding his left eye and ending just by his cheek. The reason for this injury is still unknown.

The duck-hybrid wasn't in his usual cheery mood. Instead of a playful glint, his eyes were suspecting; narrowed and constantly looking in all directions as if he was searching for something - or rather someone.

Big Q was anxious. Everyone was.

"What the hell? Skeppy, I thought Bad's with you." He walked over to the man with determined steps. Only stopping at an arm-length away when Sam stepped in between.

Rather than responding to the other, Skeppy gave his full attention to the trio by his left. "Bad told me to find you guys before leaving and running like a madman on a mission." he intended for the last half to be a joke. It did not appear to come off that way with how more distressed the people surrounding him looked.

Quick to push aside his crashing hope, Dream went for another approach. "Did he tell you where he was going? Or anything else?"

"No, as I said, he left before I could even protest."

"Guys—!" Taking the group's attention, they all looked at Ponk who was hurriedly waving them all over. "—I think I see Bad!"

In an instant, every onlooker followed the young man's direction. Heads perching up to see that it was indeed their raven-cloaked friend at the distance. Though it seems that it wasn't only BadBoyHalo who's making a run for it. There were five of them. Five people who have also been searched for by the rest.

Bad held Tommy's wrist by his left, trying to get the blond to run faster than all the runs he's made in his entire life. Next to him, a man rarely seen around the SMP's capital was none other than the Blade himself - and carrying over his shoulder was Tubbo. A little bit far behind but not by a meter, run Ranboo. Using his height as an advantage to get larger steps than the others.

They all heaved upon slowing down, nearing the group. Technoblade placed Tubbo down in which Wilbur was quick to run off to, making sure that both the brown-haired child and Tommy was okay and unscathed. Towards Ranboo, Nihachu walked up to the part-enderman with concern evident in her expression. She carefully held his face, checking to see if he too was unscathed. The piglin avoided the rest of everyone's curious gaze. Choosing to let the other man explain their situation.

In spite of being out of breath from the sprint, Bad tried to speak his words in between gasps of oxygen.

"We... need... to get—" he stumbled forward, silently scolding himself for not doing enough exercise. Luckily for Bad, Quackity caught him in a flash. Holding both his shoulder and elbow to help stabilise his balance. "...Evacuate."

By this point, the rest had gathered around the man. Questions once again raised, ready to bombard him with interrogations. Skeppy slipped in between the hybrid and his best friend, taking Q's place in aiding BBH. Dream grabbed the demon's shoulders, wanting to get a straightforward answer.

"Where did you run off to? Are you aware of Yin's message?!"

The rest agreed, badly wanting to know what kind of situation they're buried in. When more and more Minecraftians began pressing in, it was only a matter of time before the lone man, Technoblade, stepped in. His loud vibrato getting everyone to quiet down.

"I think we should listen to what BadBoyHalo has to say first," he stated. Nodding towards Bad who gave him a thankful smile in return.

Now able to at least even out his breath, Bad turned towards his friends with a firmer resolve. Instead of giving his comrades the satisfaction of stating the root, he insisted on finding everybody a shelter to evacuate first. He knows they had no more time and will need to be on the move as soon as possible.

"I'll tell you all once we're in a safer place. Somewhere discreet and closed shut."

"What? Why? Why do we need to evacuate?"

Eret voiced out the same thought that flashed inside their heads. The proclaimed 'king' of the SMP with an equally pleasing vibrato towered the rest in his tall, dark boots and velvet cape. Much to everyone's surprise, it was the anarchist that answered.

"Well, if you're planning to let whatever that thing swallow you, be my guest." he tilted his head in the direction he and the others ran from. Getting everyone else to follow his gaze.

Jack Manifold tripped backwards, landing on the oak wood floor once his eyes landed on the 'thing' the Blade was talking about. His jaw hung low, mouth stuttering as he uttered,

"WHAT THE- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"

A couple of good miles away from them, at a gradual pace, spreads a thin yet messy layer of corrupted codes. The once calm green that's made up of every duvet on the surface has exceedingly changed into a red, constantly changing variable. Each item it touches, the bit turns red, parts of it breaking, disappearing and shaking violently until in its full corruption where the whole array changes from Python to Binary; C++ to Java— inch by inch, it's taking over every surface it touches - coating the SMP with a thin veil of glaring red code.

It reaches further, growing closer with each second that ticked by, haunting its preys with every space it takes. They need to move.

Breaching through the stunning suspenseful silence, Quackity raised up his voice to get everyone's fearful gazes. "My... my unfinished base. I think we'll all fit and if we're quick enough, we'll be able to patch the holes once we get there." He gave a pointed stare towards Bad, silently proposing his suggestion.

BadBoyHalo knows it's the best chance they've got. Eret's castle was too open and despite Q's building being unfinished, he knew the structure was sturdy to stand its ground. Of course, how can he not? He was helping Quackity with building it three days ago.

In just a nod, the demon had let the duck-hybrid lead the way. Quackity grabbed Karl by the arm and started ushering for everyone to follow him and to never lose their sight of his form; when they were about to leave, Eret announced a plan of his own.

"I'll stay behind. Someone will have to close the castle's gates and I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who knows how," he exclaimed. His pupilless eyes looked at everyone who had shown him kindness during his stay on the SMP. It's time to return the favour. "It can help slow whatever the hell that thing is down to give you guys a lot more time."

No one was able to protest.

By now, the glitches were nearer. Their distinct features were more prominent and glowed a lot dangerously, and Eret did not look like he was planning to change his mind anytime soon.

Bad gave in with a tight-lipped sigh,

"Eret, whatever you do, don't let it get to you."  
  


Footsteps rang loud the entire forest. A jump over a log, pushes a few branches and stomps a couple of weeds, each step the group takes is an equivalent amount to three arrays turning red. Sam had to look back, wanting to get a better look at the root of their current predicament. If he hadn't known better, he would've thought that the glitched codes looked like vines in their drying stage. It grew over the surface in its tendrils-like crawl, menacingly getting faster with each closed up ground it takes.

If not for the fact that each variable in an array is constantly changing, he would've equipped his shears and started running towards its core - if it even had a core - and tear it down apart along with his friends.

Not only in variables but the air closer to it is scented with corruption. It lacks oxygen, immediately filling your lungs with thick air and a musty-stench breach. Akin to a cloud of smoke, it gave out in a form of a mist; a devious cloud that would slowly dissipate as time ticks by. Or will it?

They doubled over. Jack Manifold forced his legs to take larger hops, hoping to get to the supposed safety of the hybrid's base. He was just centimetres away, already grasping comfort from the tips of his fingers. He watched as others began piling in, Quackity and Karl; Wilbur with Tommy and Tubbo; Skeppy and Bad slipping in and followed by the dream team and rest…

Where's Niki?

A high-pitched yelp reached his ears, the sound of his friend falling and stumbling behind brought him back to the dreading reality. Jack immediately looked back, his body filling nothing more but cold-sweat. His eyes widened from behind his red and blue glasses as his senses growled at him to run but his heart pushed him to help his friend.

From a very young age, the human had already been told - multiple times - of how much of a failure he was in life. Dropped from the academy, failed relationships, lost pets… he was told that he's the ugly duckling that never grew. That he won't make it in the outside world.

But if Jack Manifold was known, for one thing, it was that he's not the type to ignore a hand in need. No matter how much of a failure he was, he would do his best especially when it came to his friends - the people who accepted him.

Deep down, he knew he wouldn't make it. Even if he tried.

Taking a one-eighty turn, the man stumbled ahead and back to his fallen friend, hurried fumbling over his actions as he forced Nihachu to stand back up and resume her run.

"What about you?" Niki asked. Her voice quivered in fear, grabbing Jack's wrist as she tugs him with her.

It sent him a wave of pity for his friend. A breath hitching in his throat, sadness looming over the edge of his mind. Caressing her face, Jack swallowed his words, replacing it with a forced smile.

"Niki, you are the nicest person I've ever met," silence took over his head, not wanting to let the outside destruction get to his brain, "and I want you to know how much I love you." Jack forced out a laugh, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers. "You're the greatest friend I could ever ask for."

Once he opened his eyes, the whole world continued around him. No matter how much he wished he could stay like that forever, he knows that even in his perspective, it never revolved around him.

Passed and a few metres away, Jack spotted his fellow companions who were waiting for them. One of them was a familiar tall man with wavy brown hair in a dark red beanie - It'll never be him. Giving Wilbur a knowing look. Brushing the tears off Niki's face, Jack breathed through a pained smile.

"That's why you deserve so much better."

He pried her grip off his wrist, swiftly turning her around and with great strength, pushed her away from him and straight into Wilbur's awaiting arms.

That's alright. He'll die but he died saving the person he loves. Facing his back from them, the human glared at the glitches that had stuck on his shoes, daringly moving up as his leg began to feel like something was digging on his flesh. The broken code was taking him and it's taking him whole.

She won't know how thankful he ever was, he wishes she felt it.

Raising his free leg, Jack began stomping on the glitched surface, wondering how much time it could take to eat him. To serve as a perfect distraction for these blood-red glitches. Kicking on the ground like it was instead infested with roaches, Jack ignored the searing heat when it finally reached his torso. He ignored it all. Even the pleading cries coming from behind.

"Wait— Jack! No!"

Nihachu wailed, wanting to go back to the said-man. She wasn't able to do much though, not when Wilbur had wrapped an arm around her waist, hoisting her up and basically dragged her to safety. Out and farther away from their friend named Manifold.

Successfully making it inside, Technoblade and Dream went on to shut the heavy thick metals, putting a barricade on it whilst the others fussed over closing the windows tight. Everything was shut out, including her frantic screams.

It was haunting, really, the last image Nihachu ever saw before the doors slam shut was Jack getting buried and devoured. Dying with words only ever spoken by sadness. Everything went eerily silent.  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

**Author's Note:**

> Dream Update Schedule: Every Week  
> Miracle Update Schedule: Twice a month  
> [Realistic Update Schedule: Once a month]


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